Table 2.
Latent classes based on MS onset symptoms: socio-demographic features, MS-specific variables and risk factors, frequencies with column % (except overall #)/proportions and means (SE); p-values related to χ2-test and to ANOVA, respectively.
| LC1 | LC2 | LC3 | LC4 | LC5 | LC6 | Total | P-value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Multiple symptoms | Gait-balance | Fatigue-weakness | Gait-paralysis | Vision | Paresthesia | |||
| Overall# (row %) | 273 (14.1) | 262 (13.5) | 228 (11.7) | 465 (23.9) | 414 (21.3) | 300 (15.4) | 1942 (100.0) | |
| Socio-demographic features | ||||||||
| Sex | 0.007 | |||||||
| Men | 68 (24.9) | 79 (30.2) | 42 (18.4) | 146 (31.4) | 105 (25.4) | 77 (25.7) | 517 (26.6) | |
| Women | 205 (75.1) | 183 (69.8) | 186 (81.6) | 319 (68.6) | 309 (74.6) | 223 (74.3) | 1,425 (73.4) | |
| Age in 2019 | 50.06 (0.76) | 48.71 (0.87) | 46.69 (0.81) | 51.69 (0.59) | 47.45 (0.61) | 46.61 (0.72) | 48.78 (0.29) | 0.000 |
| Nationality | 0.677 | |||||||
| Swiss | 241 (88.3) | 235 (89.7) | 195 (85.5) | 408 (87.7) | 369 (89.1) | 269 (89.7) | 1717 (88.4) | |
| Other | 32 (11.7) | 27 (10.3) | 33 (14.5) | 57 (12.3) | 45 (10.9) | 31 (10.3) | 225 (11.6) | |
| Education | 0.007 | |||||||
| Low | 116 (57.1) | 89 (47.6) | 82 (48.8) | 155 (47.8) | 129 (41.6) | 94 (41.4) | 665 (46.9) | |
| High | 87 (42.9) | 99 (52.4) | 86 (51.2) | 169 (52.2) | 181 (58.4) | 133 (58.6) | 754 (53.1) | |
| MS-specific variables | ||||||||
| Ø symptoms | 8.81 (0.13) | 4.30 (0.08) | 4.90 (0.11) | 3.25 (0.07) | 1.57 (0.03) | 1.41 (0.03) | 3.72 (0.06) | 0.000 |
| MS type | 0.000 | |||||||
| PPMS | 37 (13.6) | 33 (12.6) | 23 (10.1) | 73 (15.7) | 27 (6.5) | 14 (4.7) | 207 (10.7) | |
| CIS/RRMS | 185 (67.8) | 179 (68.3) | 181 (79.4) | 291 (62.6) | 295 (71.3) | 235 (78.3) | 1366 (70.3) | |
| SPMS | 51 (18.7) | 50 (19.1) | 24 (10.5) | 101 (21.7) | 92 (22.2) | 51 (17.0) | 369 (19.0) | |
| Age of onset/Dx | 37.50 (0.70) | 36.04 (0.73) | 36.25 (0.64) | 38.21 (0.52) | 34.70 (0.50) | 35.09 (0.57) | 36.36 (0.24) | 0.000 |
| Age of onset/1st Sx | 34.96 (0.70) | 33.24 (0.68) | 32.77 (0.62) | 34.63 (0.51) | 30.93 (0.46) | 32.84 (0.56) | 33.21 (0.23) | 0.000 |
| #relapses (only RR / SP) | 6.66 (0.54) | 5.68 (0.50) | 6.04 (0.57) | 7.29 (0.48) | 5.77 (0.37) | 5.01 (0.37) | 6.10 (0.19) | 0.010 |
| EDSS proxy | 0.000 | |||||||
| 1 | 138 (66.0) | 129 (66.5) | 131 (75.3) | 208 (63.0) | 236 (74.4) | 190 (82.3) | 1,032 (70.9) | |
| 2 | 58 (27.8) | 43 (22.2) | 33 (19.0) | 96 (29.1) | 60 (18.9) | 31 (13.4) | 321 (22.1) | |
| 3 | 13 (6.2) | 22 (11.3) | 10 (5.7) | 26 (7.9) | 21 (6.6) | 10 (4.3) | 102 (7.0) | |
| IM therapies | 0.131 | |||||||
| Yes | 233 (86.3) | 225 (87.5) | 195 (85.9) | 402 (87.0) | 368 (89.8) | 274 (92.3) | 1,697 (88.2) | |
| No | 37 (13.7) | 32 (12.5) | 32 (14.1) | 60 (13.0) | 42 (10.2) | 23 (7.7) | 226 (11.8) | |
| No current IM therapy | 0.120 | |||||||
| No current | 54 (25.2) | 47 (23.5) | 38 (21.6) | 102 (29.7) | 75 (23.1) | 47 (20.1) | 363 (24.3) | |
| Current | 160 (74.8) | 153 (76.5) | 138 (78.4) | 242 (70.3) | 250 (76.9) | 187 (79.9) | 1,130 (75.7) | |
| Alternative medicine | 0.053 | |||||||
| Yes | 98 (42.6) | 79 (35.7) | 69 (34.3) | 155 (38.2) | 113 (31.6) | 83 (31.3) | 597 (35.5) | |
| No | 132 (57.4) | 142 (64.3) | 132 (65.7) | 251 (61.8) | 245 (68.4) | 182 (68.7) | 1,084 (64.5) | |
| EQ5d-VAS | 63.35 (1.41) | 72.17 (1.39) | 69.09 (1.43) | 69.69 (1.02) | 73.74 (1.07) | 79.72 (1.16) | 71.47 (0.50) | 0.000 |
| WHO-5 Well-Being Index | 13.36 (0.34) | 15.25 (0.35) | 12.26 (0.41) | 14.63 (0.27) | 15.02 (0.28) | 15.46 (0.35) | 14.47 (0.13) | 0.000 |
| Risk factors | ||||||||
| Familial aggregation | 0.289 | |||||||
| No | 214 (83.9) | 196 (78.7) | 163 (78.0) | 341 (76.8) | 319 (81.2) | 222 (78.7) | 1455 (79.4) | |
| Yes | 41 (16.1) | 53 (21.3) | 46 (22.0) | 103 (23.2) | 74 (18.8) | 60 (21.3) | 377 (20.6) | |
| Lifetime smoking | 0.002 | |||||||
| Yes | 139 (65.0) | 103 (51.5) | 111 (64.5) | 199 (58.4) | 171 (52.8) | 116 (50.0) | 839 (56.6) | |
| No | 75 (35.0) | 97 (48.5) | 61 (35.5) | 142 (41.6) | 153 (47.2) | 116 (50.0) | 644 (43.4) | |
| Alcohol consumption | 0.070 | |||||||
| Never | 31 (11.1) | 22 (14.6) | 29 (16.9) | 46 (13.5) | 20 (6.2) | 28 (12.1) | 176 (11.9) | |
| Less frequent than weekly | 108 (50.7) | 104 (52.3) | 89 (51.7) | 179 (52.5) | 179 (55.2) | 121 (52.4) | 780 (52.7) | |
| Daily—weekly | 74 (34.7) | 73 (36.7) | 54 (31.4) | 116 (34.0) | 125 (38.6) | 82 (35.5) | 524 (35.4) | |
| BMI | 25.30 (0.34) | 24.85 (0.36) | 25.42 (0.44) | 25.28 (0.30) | 24.79 (0.28) | 24.50 (0.28) | 25.01 (0.13) | 0.345 |